WASHINGTON â Alex de Minaurâs 526th career singles match Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Mubadala DC Open was undoubtedly unique for his decade-plus career.
The 27-year-old Australian, ranked No. 6 in the world and the top seed in Washington, met 17-year-old fellow countryman Cruz Hewitt, the son of 2004 DC Open Champion and former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. Lleyton served as a mentor for de Minaur, especially in the early part of his professional career, as he has a long-standing relationship with the Hewitt family.
Meanwhile, Hewitt, who notched his first career ATP win in the opening round, described de Minaur as his âolder brotherâ and explained that it would be a âdream to share the court with him.â The two have practiced together many times, as de Minaur estimated theyâve hit at every Grand Slam tournament over the past four years.
Even this year in Washington, the two Australians arrived early and hit together leading up to the tournament.
âItâs going to be a weird situation, right? Thereâs no denying that,â de Minaur said ahead of the match Wednesday. âIâve seen Cruz grow up for the last 10 years. Iâve seen him become the man that he is right now. So, itâs going to be a pretty cool feeling, I think, to be able to play him. Iâm excited for it. Itâs going to be a lot of fun.â
Despite those circumstances and acknowledging the significance of the moment, de Minaur explained that he was approaching the match like any other. He was clinical in his precision early on, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set.
The defending DC champion didnât look back from there and cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win in one hour. Heâll next play in the quarterfinals, where heâll face American Brandon Nakashima, who took down No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4.
Immediately after the match, the Australians shared a warm embrace at the net as de Minaur moved one step closer to defending his title.
âI told him at the net that Iâm excited to play him for the next 10 years,â de Minaur said in his on-court post-match interview with Brad Gilbert.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Steinberg at jsteinberg@baltsun.com, 443-442-9445 and x.com/jacobstein23.
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